1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to converting text-to-speech, and more particularly, to improving the efficiency of text-to-speech systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
A text-to-speech (TTS) system can convert input text into an output acoustic signal imitating natural speech. More specifically, TTS systems can receive a text input and convert the input text to an acoustic waveform recognizable as speech corresponding to the input text. Some conventional TTS systems can operate on a pure text input and produce a corresponding speech output with little or no preprocessing or analysis of the received text. Other more complex TTS systems can process received text inputs to determine various semantic and/or syntactic attributes of the text which can influence the pronunciation of the text. Still other TTS systems can receive annotated text inputs wherein the annotations specify pronunciation information used by the TTS to produce more fluent and human-like speech.
TTS systems can be used within a variety of interactive voice response systems. Though TTS systems are not limited to a particular use, TTS systems can be used in conjunction with particular application specific systems such as financial management or reservation management systems. In consequence, a TTS system may frequently generate speech relating to the particular subject addressed by the application specific system. Oftentimes, a TTS system will receive the same text input multiple times. Despite the particular method used by a TTS system to produce speech, conventional systems fully process each received text input to convert that text to a speech output. That is, such TTS systems fully process each received text input to construct a corresponding spoken output without regard for having previously converted the same text input to speech, and without regard for how often identical text inputs are received by the TTS system. Such redundant processing can be inefficient, consume processing resources, and waste time.